Vacuum street-sweeper.



E. K. WARD.

VACUUM STREET SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED FBBA, 1910.

I 1,107,564 Patented Aug. 18, 1914,

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name.

To all whom it may concern:

D STATES PATENT GFFICE.

EDWARD K. WARD, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

VACUUM STLREET-SWEEPER.

. Be it known that I, EDWARD K. WARD, a

."citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State have invented a new and useful of Iowa,

in Vacuum Street-Sweepers,

Improvement of which the following is a 'specification.

. line t-d of Fig. 3.

bers' of a horizontally as by means of I tablebrushes 4, their Arranged in i This invention relates tovacuuni street cleaners and especially to that portion of the device-which is brought into contact with the pavement, and the object of the invention is to remove by means of suction, dirt and refuse matter from the street pavements and at the same time to regulate the vacuum in order to prevent choking of the suction pipe, and furthermore to provide means whereby heavy articles such as loose stones, pieces of brick and so forth may be caught before entering the suction pipe and may be readily removed at any time.

The invention consists of the novel fea tures of construction hereinafter described, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the cleaning device, which engages the street pavements, parts being shown in sect-ion. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the lower end portion of the suction device. Fig. 4 is a section on the In these drawings,

ably journaled 1n the bars 3 and a shaft 5 provided with universal joints 6 drives the brushes 4, said shaft being provided with a sprocket wheel 7 driven by a sprocket chain, not shown, which in turn is driven by any suitable means carried by the truck beneath which the frame is suspended. A suitable shaft 8 is journaled in spring pressed bearings 9, said bearings being arranged in depending brackets 10 carried by the rear porinner ends being suit Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914..

Application filed February 4, 1910. Serial No. 542.009.

tion of the frame 1. This permits vertical movement of the shaft 8 thereby permitting the brush 11 mounted upon said shaft and the'other parts carried thereby to accommodate themselves to uneven or rough places 1n the pavement. The brush 11 is inclosed within a casing 12, saidcasing being supported by the shaft 8 and said shaft is provided with sprocket wheels 13 over which suitable drive sprocket chains may be run. The top 13 of-the casing 12 is hinged to open upwardly thereby aifording ready access to the brush. The casing extends upwardly and forwardly and terminates in a pipe section 14 to which can be secured any form of flexible suction pipe15 by means of which a vacuum can p pe sectlon 14 and the dirt and refuse carr1ed into said pipe section may be dis- 7 charged.

The pipe section 14 is detachable from the casing and is provided with a suitable handhole or clean-out 16. The forward portion of the casing 12 is provided with a dependmg pocket 17 provided at the side with a door 18, by means of which rubbish that may be caught in pocket 17 may be removed. VVrthm and below the casing there is also provided a V-shaped hinged trough 19 also vertically movable which will also serve to catch and retain trash, such as small sticks and twigs. Immediately to the rear of the pocket 17 there 1s hinged within the casin two metal plates 20 whlch incline toward be produced in the each other and the sides of which are beveled and the beveled sides of one plate are connected to the beveled sides of the other plate by means of pieces of canvas 21. By means of this construct-ion a contracted mouth 22 is formed. The passage of matenal nto the pipe 15 is further retarded by a hinged flap valve 23 pressed down by a sultable spring 2& the upper end of which is inclosed within a suitable cap 25. From the bottom of the casing depends a suitable canvas 26, and suitable canvas flaps 27 which also are provided for the brushes 1.

In operation the brushes 4. will throw the dirt into a windrow over which the casing 13 travels, and the rotation of the brush 11 in the direction of the arrow will sweep the adirt over and into the trough 19 where all that portion of it not immediately caught by the air suction through the mouth 22 is finally caught up and drawn through said mouth 22. With the exception of articles,

vceptacles for such as sticks and the like which are retained in the bottom of the trough any articles which would be likely tov catch or clog in the ipe 15, such as pieces of stone and brick Wlll fall into the pocket 17, their lodgment being facilitated by the flap valve 23 which is set at an angle to the diameter of the pipe and partially overhangs said pocket. As the opening of said valve 23 is dependent upon the maintaining of a vacuum in the pipe 15 any momentary failure of said vacuum will cause said Valve to temporarily close. In the meantime the trough 19 will take care of the sweepings thrown into it by the brush 11 until the vacuum is reestablished and the valve 23 opens.

I have not illustrated means for producing a vacuum in the pipe 14, or means for driving the sprocket wheels"? and 13, or rereceiving the dirt from the pipe 14: as any suitable means can be employed for creating said suction and driving said sprocket wheel or any'suitable receiving device may be employed to receive the dirt all of these parts being independent and separate from the invention herein shown and claimed. I do not however desire to be limited to any specific form of valve mechanism, or for any particular contruction of casing, since these parts could be changed also without in any way affectin or materially changing my invention.

Vhat I claim is 1. In a street sweeper brushes arranged at an angle to each other having their adjacent ends spaced apart, a casing arrangedto the rear of said brushes and the space between them, a brush in'said casing, a suction pipe in communication with said casing, an upwardly opening spring pressed valve controlling the passage to said suction pipe, and means for rotating/ said brushes. I

2. In a street sweeper, means for throwing dirt in a windrow, a brush adapted to travel in said windrow, a casing partially inclosing said brush, said casing terminating in a suction pipe section a suction pipe connected to said section, a iilap valve regulating admission of air to said pipe section, plates hinged in said casing, a fabric connecting the side of said plates, said plates and said fabric forming a contracted mouth, andbeing arranged in advance of said flap valve, as and for the purpose set forth. 3. A device of the kind described comprising two rotatable brushes arranged at an angle to the line of travel and to each other having their inner ends spaced apart, a casing arranged directly in the inner ends of said brushes and being downwardly open, a brush arranged in said casing, a suction pipe attached to said casing, and a spring pressed valve arranged'in said in alinement with casing and controlling passage of sweepings between said casing and said ipe.

4:. In a device of the kind dhscribed a casing, a suction pipe connected thereto, means for closing said pipe upon loss of a vacuum therein, a vertically movable hinged trough arranged within said casing, and a brush arranged within the casing adapted to deliver sweepings to said trough, said trough serving as a receptacle to hold said sweepings during closure of the suction pipe.

EDWARD K. WARD.

Witnesses: WALTER S. MoLnon,

J. S. HARP. 7

I Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

rear of the 

